Palace: Info still raw on plot to kill pope

MANILA, Philippines - Malacañang yesterday confirmed receiving raw information on a plot to assassinate Pope Francis during his recent five-day visit to the Philippines.

“We were able to speak to those in the security establishments on that and I was told that they were aware of that particular piece of unverified information that was passed on,” deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said over radio dzRB.

“They were aware...although they did make it a point to establish that the information had no details and was unverified, but because of the situation, it was passed on anyway,” Valte said.

She said country’s security officials – on receiving the report – exercised prudence and acted accordingly to ensure the safety of Pope Francis for the duration of his state and pastoral visit from Jan. 15 to 19.

Asked whether the switching off of cellular phone signals was in response to the reported assassination plot, Valte said it was not the only reason, as the decision to require telecom firms to turn off signals was made even before the emergence of the “unverified” information.

But Valte emphasized that in preparing for an event as big as the papal visit, “you take all of the situations in consideration and you prepare accordingly.”

“We also adjust but...the plan is complete, that this is what we will do and that was precisely what was implemented by government,” she said.

“And thankfully, all of us cooperated...all those who went (to the pope’s activities) contributed to the success of the visit,” Valte said.

A former military intelligence officer claimed there were two attempts to assassinate the pope during his visit in the Philippines – one in Manila and the other in Tacloban, Leyte.

The unnamed former officer claimed that four plotters with links to Islamic militant group al-Qaeda were nearly cornered by Manila police hours before the papal mass at the Quirino Grandstand last Jan.18. The plotters, the former officer said, managed to slip away in the ensuing commotion.

A few months ago, the Iraqi government warned that terror group Islamic State wanted the pope killed, and that the threats against the leader of the more than one billion Catholics were credible.

On Thursday, Pope Francis told Italian police officers in charge of security around the Vatican that he saw “shadows and dangers” amid reports of threats to his life, but urged them not to give in to fear.

“On the horizon we see shadows and dangers which worry humanity,” the pope said in the wake of an increase in security around the Vatican amid fears Islamic State extremists may be plotting to attack the head of the Roman Catholic Church.

“As Christians we are called not to lose heart or be discouraged,” Francis said in a new year’s message to the Vatican police.

Security was tightened in Saint Peter’s Square in September after intelligence services intercepted a possible plan to attack the Vatican.

Iraq’s ambassador to the Holy See, Habib Al Sadr, at the time warned that “what has been declared by the self-declared Islamic State is clear. They want to kill the pope. The threats against the pope are credible.”

In the Philippines, a confidential memorandum was circulated to certain police stations, ordering an inventory of foreigners in their custody as part of security preparations for the pope’s visit. Citizens of an Asian country were singled out for possible terrorist links.

Thousands of police and military personnel were deployed throughout the pope’s visit, during which he declined to ride in bulletproof vehicles or wear a flak vest underneath his cassock. Cell phone signals, commonly used to set off explosives, were jammed wherever he went.

Some worry Francis has made himself a target by speaking out against the Islamic State group and having the Holy See voice support for US air strikes in Iraq.

Italy’s interior minister this month said police were on high alert in key locations across Rome and around the Vatican after the Paris attacks claimed by Yemen-based al-Qaeda. – With Jaime Laude